New Delhi, March 21: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday welcomed Supreme Court’s suggestion that the decades-old Ayodhya dispute should be settled amicably outside court. Yogi Adityanath said it was a good suggestion and that the Uttar Pradesh government would cooperate in the resolution of the dispute.

The Supreme Court advised the parties involved in the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir dispute case to settle the matter outside the court. The Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar himself offered to play interlocutor to resolve the 25-year-old case in a peaceful manner.

The apex court’s observation was met with mixed reactions. While the Hindu side has welcomed the decision, the Muslim side flatly refused to come to the negotiating table.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy welcomed the decision, saying that the decision should be arrived at by mutual discussion. However, he said that the Muslim side may not agree to this arrangement as they wanted a legal stamp before coming to the negotiation table.

During the campaign for UP assembly elections, Yogi Adityanath had said that Ram Mandir would be built with a year.

“I am one year younger than Rahul Gandhi, and a year older than Akhilesh Yadav. I came in between. I am the main reason behind your failure,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the Leader of Opposition Mallikaarjun Kharge, he issued a veiled threat: ” Dekhte jaiye, bohot kuch band hone wala hai (a lot of things will be closed),” he added.

It must be noted that the Bharatiya Janata Party had promised in its manifesto that slaughterhouses will be closed down after it came to power. After assuming power, Yogi Adityanath ordered the closure of slaughterhouses.

Yogi Adityanath criticised the previous Uttar Pradesh government for underutilisation of funds released by the Centre to the state.

“In the last 2.5 years, Rs 2.5 lakh crore were given by the Centre to the state, only Rs 78,000 crore was utilised as they didn’t have any developmental plan,” he said.